So I immediately talked to my boss about whether I could take two days off to plan a relaxed journey. That was no problem either. I quickly called the garage and told them I was in, and got the hotel information for the first night. I quickly got the room ready and started to get really excited, as I'd somehow missed out on riding my motorcycle this year.

The journey to the meeting was supposed to be a relaxed two-day affair, as it's quite a few kilometers. Since I already had over 100km to the garage, and another 300km to go, I arranged with the garage crew to meet along the route, and I would drive to my parents' house the evening before. This way, although I had a few more kilometers in total, I was able to spread them out and could be more relaxed.

station before we met, as the rest of us wanted to fill up as well. That was quickly done, though, and so we continued on together. Through the Bregenzerwald on to the Allgäu. And at some point, you just need a short break. Not only good for humans, but also for the machine, which suddenly crashed due to a detour within the detour and needed a reset. Brave new world of technology. And as we were taking a break, Sam suddenly noticed something and said to Max that it would be helpful if he would put some air also at the bottom of his tire. We jacked it up and looked to see if there was a defect, but nothing of the sort. So we simply changed the wheel. 10 minutes later, it was done, the air pressure checked, and we were on our way. The sat nav had figured it out again; nothing could go wrong now. The next stop was necessary to fill up the tanks again. These sidecars are actually very fuel-efficient for their weight and power, but the tank is also very small. But it doesn't hurt to stretch your legs once in a while. And after a good 300km, we reached our destination, just after Rosenheim. We checked into our room and took care of our electrolyte balance. A meat platter and another beer later, we wanted to take care of the flat tire. A sidecar driver has all the tools he needs, even a little more. Even if I'm just standing there making stupid comments, I was still able to contribute my mini compressor to this event, and half an hour later, that was also done. We settled down together in the lounge to consume more electrolyte drinks before eventually heading off to bed.

Shortly after 9:00 a.m., after a hearty breakfast and lots of coffee, we set off. Instead of riding on the road, we headed across a wet, slippery meadow. Then, at the bottom, we crossed the road to directly access the first rough forest path. Wow, what have I done to myself...? But I simply followed the lead of those in front of me, watched them accelerate, and which lane they took, and in no time, and with virtually no difficulty, I had completed my first truly off-road kilometers with the sidecar. As I quickly discovered, I wasn't the one holding back the group of around 25 people. But after just 6 km, one of us didn't follow the group riding rules and lost sight of the person behind him, causing the first 11 people to take a wrong turn. We continued on forest and meadow paths, quite challenging for someone with little experience like me, and not without its challenges, as the rain had made the paths quite soft and slippery. It can be a real turn-off when there's a steep drop to the right or left. After a brief stop at the edge of the forest to let the group catch up, we continued on. Everyone was happily spinning their wheels and busily throwing dirt behind them. The guy behind me was following at a bit of a distance, and 500 meters later we were 

back towards me, half sliding, half riding. While she was still sliding, I checked the path I wanted to take, put it in first gear, and off I went. The meadow was no problem, the forest path became increasingly rough, but it worked, it worked – it stopped. In front of me, it came to a halt again. The path ahead of us was badly eroded, and one of the sidecars was lying on its side; help was already at hand. That's going to take a while, so I turned off the engine and got off for a moment. I expressed my doubts to Sam about whether I could really manage it. But he was full of confidence, also because he had already seen how I had mastered the rest up to this point. He explained a few things to me about how to behave with the sidecar in this kind of terrain, how I should react in certain situations, and then the path was clear. The helpers from a moment ago were on their way back to their motorcycle, which they had parked off the path. I took the opportunity and stepped on the gas. If I got off, they'd be there in a minute. The path did indeed get rougher and more potholed, narrower and slippery. But I pulled through smoothly with a steady throttle and reached the top without one excessive slip or stumble, where the forest path turned back into a well-graveled and well-trodden path.

Everyone set off on the return journey together, the three of us opting out to escape the madness of such a group. We quickly bought a few things and then headed back to the castle. The man who had the accident that morning was already there. He was briefly in the hospital, where he was diagnosed with a partial tear in a shoulder ligament and was given a sling. It was unfortunate, but it could have been much worse, if, for example, the almost 400kg motorcycle had landed on him. So, almost everything's fine, so it's time for a beer. The catering team is already arriving and setting up their grill; it's going to be a fantastic feast.

And since the weather is fairly warm and, above all, dry today, the fire pit is being used, of course. In the absence of kindling and/or firelighters, a roll of toilet paper soaked in gasoline from the spare canister has to do, which works too. What doesn't quite work is dismantling the pallets; the nails hold like crazy. But, we're all bright minds; the pallet is square, the fire pit is round, so that's fine. Okay, the outermost boards of the pallet are sticking out, but once the ones in the middle are burned away, the rest simply falls into the gravel, and you can place the next pallet on top.

motorway, which would be even longer, was accepted, and indeed, we set off, well before 9:00 a.m. Just like on the way to the castle, we stopped at the same gas station to fill up, and then it was drive, drive, drive. The first stop was just after Munich; we needed to fill up again. At the gas station, we briefly discussed the rest of the route. Since I was only going to my parents' house again, I would turn off at some point. So we agreed to briefly take a short detour from the motorway after Memmingen. From here, I don't have any more motorway to go; 200km is more than enough, terrible, especially since the sidecars aren't the fastest. The other two are also used to the motorway, which is why I suggest they drive diagonally with me, instead of continuing south on the motorway and then west on the motorway in Switzerland. It can be done in almost the same time without the motorway if you drive diagonally. The sat nav was programmed that way, and after a brief goodbye, we continued on. Shortly after Ravensburg, our paths finally parted, and 15 minutes later I was home. The other two had a good hour more to go, but they also arrived safely.